Multicolor-printing.



PTENTED J AN E. T. NEBEN.

MULTIGOLOR PRINTING.

APPLmATIoN FILED PEB. 2a, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1` H0 MODEL.

W/ TNE SSE S A TTOHNEYS No. 718,274. PATENTED JAN. 13, 1903.

E. T. yNEBFN.

MULTIGOLOR PRINTING.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 28. 1902.-

\ No MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

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w//vEsSES.- v W N /NvE/vr'o v' bmp/@0 a A A@ ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EMIL T. NEBEN, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

MIU LTIGOLOFR-PRINTING.-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 718,274, dated January 13, 1903.

Application fled February 28, 1 902. Serial No. 96,075. (No model.) l

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I', EMIL THEADOR NEBEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of East Grange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Multicolor-Printing, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to multicolor-printing by engravings or otherwise; and its object is to provide certain new and useful improvements in the production or reproduction of color type-plates, whereby plates of a very high grade and having all the desired gradations in light and shade and solids are produced in a comparatively short time.

The invention consists, briefly stated, in providing the face of a metallic plate with projections-such as ridges, points, or dotsand then forming thereon by a photographicprinting process any design or transfer print orv drawing of the object to be treated in color and staining the said print with a color to render it visible to the eye, then forming nonprinting portions in the plate by cutting out such portions, and also forming graduated and solid printing portions on the plate by burnishing said portions more or less-that is, flattening out the projections more or less for the saidv printing portions to take more or less ink.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, formingapart of this specification, in which- FiguresA 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and S are face views of a plate, illustrating the successive steps necessary to produce a color type-plate ready for printing. Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of the plain plate. Fig. 10 is a like view of the plate provided with projections. Fig. 11 is a similar view of the same covered with a sensitive coating, and

4 Fig. 12 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of a finished plate.

In practice I proceed as follows: A plate, such as shown in Figs.` l and 9, of soft or stereotypers metal is provided on its face with projections produced either by diagonal ridges, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, or by longitudinal ridges, as shown in- Fig. 5, or the said projections may be in the shape of dots or points formed by intersecting diagonal ridges, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 6. (See also Fig. 10.) The plate thus prepared is now coated in a dark room with a sensitive coating, (see Figs. 7 and 11,) preferably made of fish glue, albumen, and bichromate of potash, and after the coating of the plate is dry the plate is placed in a suitable printingframe with the negative of the object superimposed on the said plate. used is made from a line or Wash drawing, otherwise known as the half-tone process negative. An exposure to a light is now made of the plate and its superimposed negative, and then the negative and the'plate are removed from the printing-frame and the plate is washed in the dark room to remove the soluble portion of the coating and to lleave the insoluble portion, forming the print of the object, on the plate. (See Fig. 8.) In order to render the print visible,a color is r'un over the plate to saturate the print. The plate when dry is now readyfor the further manipulation by the operator, who now, with the aid of a graver, cuts out of the plate the portions not required in printing, and the portions desired to print in solids or graded tones are more or less burnished by a suitable burnishing-tool-that is, the portionsintended to print solid or heavy are burnished sufciently hard to completely flatten out the projections in that portion, so that the latter takes more ink when printing. The portions to appear in half-tone, quarter-tone, or the like are burnished correspondingly less hard, so that these portions take a correspondingly less quantity of ink and print in the desired gradations. (See Fig. l2.)

It is understood that the plate for each color is prepared in the manner above described to form exactly registering plates, and in` each plate thatportion not required to print at all is completely cut out and the print-ing portions are burnished wherever required to print the desired color in the desired gradati'on.

The negativev It is understood that the portions that carry i IOS When it is desired to blend two or more colors, I prefer to use two or more plates provided with ridges, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, dsc-that is, with the ridges standing in opposite directions, one plate being used for one color and the other plate for the other or blending color. The prints are produced on the two or more plates in the saine manner as above described. Now in making successive impressions with the two or more plates mentioned the colors readily blend, as they are thoroughly mixed, owing to the projections standing in opposite directions.

In forming the projections on the plates I prefer to employ a machine having a long roller with steel disks to cut lines into the soft stereotype-plates, thus leaving the ridges, points, or dots-that is, when the plate is passed under the roller ridges are formed, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 5, and when run a second time or oftener through the machine, with the plate turned, then the lines produced intersect those made the first time to form the points or dots. The depth of the lines in the plate is considerably more than the depth of any zinc or copper etched plate, and consequently the plates stand a far greater strain than any ever produced heretofore and have a longer life in the printing process than any other printing-plates heretofore made by the different processes known to the printing trade.

The lines or grooves produced by the disks of the roller maybe spread more or less apart, according to the work to be donefor instance, for rapid newspaper color-printing it requires about seventy-fi ve lines to the inch, while for the finer grades of high-color printing as many as two hundred lines to the inch are required.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A color type-plate comprising a softmetal plate having its face provided with projections, and a print or transfer produced thereon, the projections on portions of the plate being iattened, as set forth.

2. A color type-plate comprising a softmetal plate having its face provided with projections in the form of ridges, dots, points or the like, and a print or transfer adhering to the said surface form ed of a colored film, portions of the said surface being burnished to flatten out the projections at said portions for the purpose of carrying more ink, as set forth.

3. A color type plate comprising a softmetal plate having its surface provided with projections in the form of ridges, dots, points or the like, and a print or transfer adhering to the said surface formed of a colored film, the plate being cnt out for forming non-printing portions or high lights, and projections on the surface being burnished to flatten the same more or less, as set forth.

4. A color type-plate comprising a softmetal plate having its surface provided with projections in the form of ridges, dots, points or the like, capable of being attened out, and a print or transfer adhering to the said surface formed of a colored film, the plate being cnt out for forming non-printing portions and the surface having portions burnished to fiatten the projections, the burnishing` being graduated as set forth.

5. The herein-described method of producing color type-plates for multicolor-printing, consisting in forming the surface of a soft- Vmetal plate with projections, then coating the surface with a sensitive film, subjecting the plate and its film to the action of light, with the negative superimposed on the said coating, Washing the plate after exposure to leave the print on the surface, staining the print to render it visible and flattening the projections upon parts of the plate as set forth.

6. The herein-described method of producing color type-plates for multicolor-printing, consisting in forming the surface of a softmetal plate with projections, then coating the surface with a sensitive film, subjecting the plate and its film to the action of light, with the negative superimposed on the said coating, washing the plate to leave the print on the surface, staining the print to render it visible, forming non-printing portions on the plate, by cutting out port-ions of the plate and finally forming graduated printing portions on the plate by burnishing portions of the surface more or less as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EMIL T. NEBEN.

Witnesses FRANK M. HILL, MORRIS KILLQUIT.

IOO 

